Gods Do Not Bleed
by Ensign Klutz
Summary: A simple mission proves to the team that their youngest member is human and it is that human trait of Robin that gives him the courage to take a bullet for a teammate and friend. Being a human gave him the chance to give Superboy a name instead a title.


**Gods Do Not Bleed**

**Chinese Fairy:** It's settled! I've joined the bandwagon that is the growing fandom for "Young Justice"! The problem is I can't be angry with myself! I guess that's a good thing~ Yay!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Young Justice! It belongs to Warner Bros. and D.C Comics. I merely borrow their characters and pretend for five minutes out of my life that they belong to me even if they don't! (cries)

**Chinese Fairy:** Yeah, nothing else to say, so get onto the story~ and enjoy!

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**Gods Do Not Bleed**

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"The mission is simple: infiltrate the base and if possible, download the enemies agenda for the next month. With your information, the Justice League will be able to apprehend the suspect in question," The Batman paused his speech to press a button on the keyboard in front of him that allowed a criminal file to appear on the large translucent viewing screen.

A mug shot popped open on the screen, showing a man reaching six feet and five inches tall who seemed to be lacking in sleep since his eyes were shaded a dark blue and his face was haggard. His hair was shortly cropped and his black irises made someone feel like a dark was about to swallow him or her up.

Kid Flash let out a whistle and commented, "Wow, that is a face for radio!" Aqualad and Robin smiled at the remark, but Batman ignored him and continued, "His criminal record stands at 15 counts of assault, one count of attempted murder, 21 counts of possession and intention to sell." Megan piped in, "Excuse me, but with so many convictions, why hasn't he been permanently locked away?"

The Dark Knight glared for a moment then replied, "He has been charged, but never convicted; witnesses have either withdrew their statements or they had a case of amnesia. With no one to testify or hard evidence pointing to him, Harold Cummings has avoided jail."

He tapped another key and an image of Gotham Harbor appeared, "Superman believes with the information you can gather we can inform the police and Cummings will be locked away for 15 to 20 years." Zooming in, the image depicted the roof of a pier warehouse numbered "23".

"The groups numbers is around 25 at this time and their round of guards is standard. Get in, get the information, get out." With that said, he shut off the large monitor screen and the team of young heroes took it as a sign to move towards Megan's Bio-Ship. As the rest of the team began the walk to the ship bay, Robin lagged behind to speak to his "father figure".

"So, what caused you to suddenly trust us again in Gotham? I know that that encounter with Clayface did not bode well for your trust in us." Spoke the Boy Wonder.

Batman was shutting down the meeting room and he didn't face his protégé when he replied, "This is a simple mission with a danger level of 23%. If you mess this up, then I'm going to have to pull you out of the team."

Robin's face blanched at the thought and then his expression turned into a frown when he saw his mentor's notorious smirk. "I agree with Harley, you are more scary when you joke." With that, Robin turned and somersaulted out of the room and ran down the hall where the Bio-Ship was still in rest mode and Megan had her hands outstretched towards the ship.

Like a flower blooming, the ship transformed from resting mode to active mode and they all boarded the craft.

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From Mount Justice in Rhode Island to Gotham City in New Jersey, the Bio-Ship made the trip in less than an hour with Robin grinning to himself; nightlife was beginning and the sun had long set in the far off distance. Darkness was his ally almost as much as the Dark Knight. The alien ship landed on another warehouse twenty buildings down from their target and Miss. Martian placed in once again in resting mode.

Aqualad and the other walked over to the edge of the roof and stared out into the vast distance of what Superman described as "A nightmare constructed of metal and stone."

The team's hacker swiftly pulled out his binoculars and zoomed in on warehouse 23.

"From here, it's like no one a stirring in the warehouse, but the lights are on." Commented the youngest member. Artemis nodded and adjusted her quiver of bows. "So, what's the plan?" attention turned to their leader, Aqualad.

He remained silent for a moment longer before answering his newest teammates question. "Robin and Superboy will enter the building while the rest of us will handle the guards and anyone else in the warehouse." He kneeled down and magically presented a layout plan of the storehouse. The Atlantean pointed to the southeast side of the building and continued, "From the images Batman showed us, not many of the guards pass through here since visibility is poor. You two will enter from there and if the whistle is blown on us, Superboy can offer a defense as Robin hacks the system and gets the information."

The two said heroes nodded in understanding and then Kaldur turned to Kid Flash and Artemis, "You both will take care of the northwest side and sweep left until all enemies are down on your side."

Artemis rolled her eyes and Kid Flash scowled; their distaste for the other hero remained even after their moment of peace from Bialya had ended as soon as it bloomed. He then turned to Megan. "You and I will take the northeast and move right. If all goes well," he mentally prayed to Poseidon for assurance, "The four of us will meet by the southeast side of the warehouse with enemies neutralized and give Robin an easier escape path."

Mutual nods between the four teammates assured the outer defenses would fall and Superboy with help from the Boy Wonder will easily deal with the few enemies inside. Logically, if you expect the enemies to move from outside to the inside, no one will ever notice or hear the Metahuman clone of Superman making one leap from the roof of building 24 and silently slip into number 23.

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Artemis was scowling the entire twenty-five seconds she was nestled in Wally's chest as the speedster zoomed past twelve enemies and he abruptly stopped in the shadows of several crates. "Stop grinning you dork," she snapped in a hushed whisper. He rolled his eyes and replied in the same low tone, "I would if you stopped acting like I had cooties. What are you a seven year old?" he teased.

She shushed him as an enemy's loud footsteps echoed around them and Artemis saw the large thug was approaching their location. She silently strung a bow and nestled it onto the shelf; the blonde archer pulled back on the nocking point of the bow and allowed herself a second to aim before the let her arrow fly. A sound of her smoke bomb arrow hitting and exploding on the man's chest faintly sounded through the night. Coughing and hacking came from man and Artemis smugly smirk as a second later a loud "thud" softly echoed between the crates and the first enemy went down.

She turned to Wally, "Make yourself useful, go drag him into the shadows and make it quick speedster," with that, she disappeared into the shadows leaving a frowning Kid Flash. "She's worse than Aunt Iris, I swear." He groaned, but he did drag the unconscious thug into the shadows as he was told.

"Uncle Barry would be laughing his ass off at me…" he complained under his breath and soon ran off to find his teammate.

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Aqualad and Megan swiftly combined their attacks to synchronize and with his channeling weapons and her telekinesis they silently swept the bad guys off their feet and onto the roofs of other building and tall pyramids of crates where they would lay unconscious and handcuffed until the police arrived.

Another swing of his channeling weapons, enabled Kaldur to whip an enemy over his head and he dropped the lanky man holding a shotgun onto the stone roof where he now was crumpled in a heap sleep.

Megan levitated another man from his nervous position on the ground and forced him into unconsciousness via her mind. She was floating next to the roof that hid Aqualad and turned to him. "Is it just me of is this mission easier than any of the other missions?"

He offered the Martian a smile before replying, "It does seems easier, but let's not jinx ourselves." He fought to keep a bigger smile from his lips as Megan slapped her hands over her mouth in an attempt to stop any bad luck from escaping her mouth. "Come on, Robin should be almost done with his job," he jumped down to the ground level with Megan descending down at a leisurely pace. _This job it going to easy, it makes me more nervous than a compromised mission…_ Kaldur thought and he was silently thanking Nāmaka, a sea goddess of Hawaii, for their current peace during this mission.

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Robin was grateful that there was an open window that allowed Superboy to jump into the warehouse with none of the guards noticing him or the smaller hero tucked in his arms like a football.

They touched down onto the flooring of the storage facility and behind a mountain of wooden crates. _A good start,_ he commented inwardly and he slipped into the darkness with Superboy attempting to be just as quiet as him. The two heroes continued down dimly lit makeshift halls of crates and stacked objects, searching for the computer that held the evidence needed to put away Harold Cummings and after ten more minutes of searching, the young bird caught sight of a manager's office, which presented a shiny new laptop.

"If that's not a sign, I don't know what is." He murmured to his friend and Superboy smirked at the attempt at humor.

They made it to the office without anyone noticing and the Boy Wonder quickly began hacking the electronic device.

After a couple minutes, the clone of Superman asked, "How's it coming?" he was edgy and a little upset that he didn't get to take care of the enemies, but he was partnered with Robin. _It's not like I don't LIKE the kid, it's just this is boring!_ Complained Superboy as he glanced at the monitor; not understanding anything on the screen.

Robin flashed him a grin over his shoulder as his fingers continued dancing over the keyboard. "Of course, this password system is so simple that my six year old brother could tackle it!" he pressed enter and quickly connected a USB device.

"Two minutes, then we can get out of this dump." He commented and relaxed into the plush swivel chair.

As promised, the download was completed in two minutes and the heroes ran out of the room. Robin concentrated in his mind and a moment he announced, _"Guys, it's done. Superboy and I are on our way out."_ He reported in their mental chat room and Kid Flash's mental voice cheered.

_"Yes! You have no idea how much it sucks being partnered with Artemis. She is SO bossy!" _the other four Young Justice League members felt the archer roll her eyes as she replied haughtily, _"Now you know how I feel when I get stuck with you and your charming attitude!"_ Kaldur coughed awkwardly as the sarcasm flooded into Artemis's mental voice.

Robin was about to reply when he heard the distinct sound of a hammer clicking back; a second later he heard a gun's trigger being pulled. His eyes trailed into the darkness where he was a faint shimmer of the said weapon pointed at Superboy's head. The Boy Wonder had a split second to react.

Quickly, he pulled out a batarang from his utility belt and flung it towards the hidden enemy, but he knew he would be too late. Before his mind could tell his body to move, his form jumped high and a white pang struck his side as the bullet meant for Superboy hit him.

Superboy's head whipped around in time to see Robin crumpling to the ground clasping onto his side and he also caught side of Harold Cummings walking out of the shadows with the smoking gun still in his hand. "Damn, I was aiming for you. Oh well," he pulled the trigger again and the bullet bounced of the clone's chest.

Cummings's body became rigid as he put two and two together.

A grave grin appeared on Superboy's lips as he cracked his knuckles. "You don't think I wear this big 'S' because I am a big fan of Superman do you?" with speed that rivaled Kid Flash, he ran towards Cummings with his hand in the shape of a fist.

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Megan let out a shriek as she felt the sudden mental pain of her youngest teammate in her mind. Kaldur missed a step and tumbled to his knees as he also felt Robin's pain.

Artemis grasped onto her head when she heard Robin's scream in her head and Kid Flash unconsciously pulled her close; she was now his lifeline to stop him from screaming out in pain. "R-Robin…!" he gasped out. The archer clasped her right hand on top of his left hand and whimpered, "We have to get to them!" she announced and the two ran off to the doorway that lead to the inside of the warehouse.

They both met Kaldur who was holding an unconscious Megan in his arms. "She passed out from the shock," he stated and the three heroes rushed in to save their friend.

The sight that met Aqualad, Artemis, and Kid Flash shocked them to their cores as Superboy stood over the bloodied form of Harold Cummings.

Aqualad gently handed Megan over to Artemis as he ran over to check the non-Metahuman's pulse. Superboy hardly noticed him as he panted, attempting to catch his breath. The Atlantean was thanking all the water deities that the man was alive and he just blacked out; he was also grateful that most of the blood was just from the broken nose.

Artemis noticed Megan coming to and placed the female Martian on her own feet. M'gann M'orzz gasped as she saw Superboy's knuckles and his upper chest dotted with blood and her eyes narrowed in on Robin's rigid form.

"I'll go get the Bio-Ship!" she stated loudly, causing Kid Flash to jump in surprise and she flew out the door.

Artemis and Wally moved to Robin's side and attempted to assess the damage. "It went through; that's a good sign," she commented and the Fastest Boy Alive cracked a smile, "Y'know Rob, we could've walked away from this mission bragging; you stole our bragging rights." He teased and a weak smile formed on Robin's lips.

"I-It wasn't intentional." He grounded out; a few moments later, the humming of Megan's Bio-Ship was heard from the outside and Aqualad took that as the sign to go. He turned to Kid Flash, "Do you think you can carry him?"

Before the speedster could even pick up his best friend, Superboy gently lifted the smaller hero in a bridal hold and stalked off to the Bio-Ship with a frown etched into his lips and anger swirling in his blue eyes.

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The flight back to Mount Justice seemed to be faster and the Bio-Ship felt like it was ready to break the sound barrier.

Aqualad took in a breath before he connected to the communications of Mount Justice.

"This is Batman, go ahead." Spoke the Dark Knight; Kaldur almost flinched. "This is Aqualad, we are on our way back to Mount Justice. There has been an incident; we need the medical wing prepped and ready for a…" he paused to lick unusually dry lips. "A Non-Metahuman; Robin's been shot." The words fell on the group of teenagers like a wave of heavy water.

Batman remained silent for several moments and Megan almost called out to him, but finally the Justice League member replied, "The bay doors will be open and a gurney will be waiting for you." With that, the connection was cut off and Aqualad let out a sigh.

Subtly, he swiveled his seat to glance back at Superboy who had not released the Boy Wonder from his hold. A tourniquet ripped from his black shirt and a firm grip prevented any more blood loss and all the Young Justice team could do was will the Bio-Ship to move faster.

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As promised, there was a gurney and an emotionless Batman waiting for them in the docking bay. Superboy was hesitant to release Robin, but after a glare from Batman, the clone did as he was told and placed him on the gurney. Without another word to the team, the Dark Knight spirited off with his son down the hall and to the medical wing.

Kid Flash slumped to sit on the floor with his legs folded in pretzel form. "…This was supposed to be an easy mission… What went wrong?" he asked out loud, not really expecting an answer.

Everyone nearly jumped out of his or her skin when Superboy roared and slammed his fist into the nearest wall to him. Megan tentatively moved to offer him her support, but he stalked off into another direction opposite of the medical wing and his teammates.

Artemis and Aqualad gazed at the clone's back as he left, but Megan and Wally's eyes were glued to the decimated wall.

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Batman stared down at his son who lay unconscious in the hospital bed. His wound was tended to and when he was able, Alfred Pennyworth was going to check his injury in the Batcave where the caretaker of Bruce, Dick, and Tim Wayne tended to his sons.

"Tim is going to be crying buckets since you're not coming home tonight," Batman commented to his resting son. Since the domino mask was still in place, Dick Grayson was still hidden and Robin was the individual in the medical wing.

None of this ever happened when Robin was with him. Sure, they had more experience together and they knew each other's patterns and methods of taking down an enemy, but even in the early days, when Robin was new to Gotham City, Batman kept him safe.

Before this, Bruce Wayne was able to ensure his son and protégé's safety. He checked the stats one more time before he turned and left the room, making his way to the meeting room where he would call the rest of the team for a last conference before they were dismissed.

Batman hid his surprise when he found Aqualad standing in the dark meeting room. The Dark Knight flicked on the lights and moved to stand close to the Atlantean.

Before Batman could even consider what to say, Kaldur spoke first. "I… I wanted to apologize to you for my negligence as leader of our team. I didn't know that Cummings would be there since you stated in yesterday's meeting that he seldom visited that warehouse. I don't even know what happened. I inferred that Robin was shot by Cummings and that Superboy nearly beat his face in, but… Not what lead up to the…" he cut himself off and his light green eyes zeroed in on the floor.

Silence swallowed them both and the rest of the room whole. Eternity seemed to flow right on by and Kaldur was about ready to offer his resignation, when Batman spoke.

"Robin never got hurt when he was with me. I always kept an eye on him and an eye on our target. I never let anyone get close enough to hurt him… Here it is different.

"In his new team, you all have to adjust to each other and understand how each and everyone of you will react to the situation. As his mentor, I want to remove him from the team and have him join me in keeping Gotham safe," Aqualad glared at the floor; _I knew he would blame us and remove Robin from our team,_ he thought bitterly.

"But then he would never truly be ready to become leader of this team." Batman added and Aqualad's eyes locked onto his King's friend; confusion clear in his eyes.

"Robin would never forgive me if I made a choice for him that would change his future like the four of you did on Independence Day. You are all a team, and you are all humans; Meta-humans or not, and I do not expect any of you to be perfect." The Dark Knight booted up the system and dim blue lights signaled the super computer was on. Aqualad nodded in understanding and bowed his head slightly,

"Thank you for understanding he means so much to us all; the brother we never had." Replied the Atlantean, he turned to leave when Batman said something else, "We will have a meeting in three hours; inform the rest of the team." Ordered Batman. Kaldur nodded and was about to leave to room when Batman added one more statement to their discussion. "You keep him safe for me when I cannot, Kaldur'ahm."

A smile finally grew on his lips, "We all will." He left the Batman alone who was smiling. No one saw it, but he himself acknowledged he was smiling.

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He had no idea, how he ended up in the hospital wing; sure he had been stalking around the base and cursing anyone he could think of, but since he was here, Superboy sat down in one of the chairs beside Robin's bed and kept glaring at nothing in particular.

_Damn that bastard Cummings; I should have killed him when I got the chance!_ Thought the clone as he sulked in the silent room. It has been two hours since Batman's meeting, the same one that he missed, and now everyone was dismissed from duty until further notice.

His eyes landed on Robin's mask and Superboy's glare amplified. _Why the HELL would he jump in front of a bullet for me when I have Superman's DNA in me making me bullet-proof?_ No matter how many times he asked himself the same question, he never received an answer.

Robin shifted in his bed and mumbled something; Superboy blinked in response and an eyebrow rose. "Who is Conner?" he asked aloud. The Boy Wonder mumbled something again that resembled the sentence, "You are, silly." Thank God for super hearing ability's, but the clone could not really confirm if that is what Robin really said.

Superboy was standing up ready to page Batman, but the Domino mask fluttered its white-eye coverings to reveal that Robin was waking up. The said boy blinked away the blurry vision that plagued him and soon his eyes found Superboy standing near the door.

"Hey," he murmured. The youngest member attempted to sit up, but Superboy rushed to his side and gently placed a hand on his chest. "No, stay in bed. You need to rest." His voice was more gruff than usual, but Robin didn't seem to notice.

"How long have I been out?" he asked after giving up on trying to sit up; his aching side was grateful. Superboy glanced at the clock on the opposite way and replied, "Five hours; sooner than Batman said you would wake up."

Robin nodded and finally noticed that Superboy was acting more upset than usual. "Are you upset because of my attempt to save you?" there was no hostility in the boy's voice so Superboy nodded, "Hell yes I'm upset. I have Superman's DNA which makes me bulletproofed and you randomly take a shot for me. What the Hell?"

The Boy Wonder chuckled despite the sharp pain in his side and the glare that Superboy was directing at him and replied, "You also can't fly and you don't have laser vision. Excuse me for worrying about you."

He weakly attempted to reach for the small cup of water on the stand next to his bed, but he couldn't reach it. Superboy leaned over the bed and brought the straw to Robin's slightly parted lips. Once the birdie took a few sips he pulled back.

"Thanks," he murmured. The clone of Superman nodded and placed the cup back on its place. "You're welcome." He replied awkwardly. Robin shook his head left and right, "No, I mean… Thank you for saving me. I know it was you who kept pressure on my wounds and you were the one who held me close as I shivered from blood loss. Thank you, Superboy."

The said hero grinned, "What happened to Conner?" this made Robin blush a faint red. "It was a name I thought of for you, but I didn't want to seem like a pet owner who was looking for a name for his puppy… I haven't told anyone about the baby book of names in my room." He grinned and Superboy smiled back.

"Well, try addressing me with that name." Requested the Meta-human. Robin glanced up to the ceiling before speaking, "Conner, do you like them name Conner?" he asked and this caused Superboy to laugh out loud.

It confused Robin, but if it made Superboy happy, then it was worth it. Superboy's smiling face and expressive eyes turned to him and he repeated his statement, "Say my name again,"

The Boy Wonder repeated the name without a second thought. This made the clone of Superman smile even more; Robin thought that smile would rip his face in two.

"I like it… My name is Conner and I am Superboy." Said Conner and he took Robin's hand into his own, "Thank you for trying to save me and for giving me a name." his gaze drifted to the floor for a moment, "It feels… good to have a name."

Robin smiled softly, "Maybe one day I will tell you mine."

They both shared one more smile before beginning small talk regarding training and how Black Canary wiped the floor with all of them; both young heroes missing was slight flutter of a black cape walking away from the room that held his son and his best friend's son.

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I'm done and I hope you all enjoyed~ please excuse any grammatical errors since this was not beta'd. Take care and see you all later!


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